You can standardize your calorie intake throughout the week or adjust daily based on whether you exercise or not. You can standardize the second method as well. For example, you can eat 1800 CAL on resting days and 2000 CAL on workout days. You can play around with the following calculator to look into this approach:

The reason HIIT and crossfit style metcons and compound strength work burn so much calories is because of the after effects of that type of training. So if you get on the treadmill and run for an hour you'll burn x amount of calories. You get off and you're furnace will stop burning and return to resting within the next hour. When you do high intensity work it causes a huge spike in your metabolism that keeps burning for the next day to two days. So the net loss of calories during workout time isn't that much, but the compounded effect over a day or two of having an increased metabolic rate will kick longer duration lower intensity workouts in the teeth.

The reason HIIT and crossfit style metcons and compound strength work burn so much calories is because of the after effects of that type of training. So if you get on the treadmill and run for an hour you'll burn x amount of calories. You get off and you're furnace will stop burning and return to resting within the next hour. When you do high intensity work it causes a huge spike in your metabolism that keeps burning for the next day to two days. So the net loss of calories during workout time isn't that much, but the compounded effect over a day or two of having an increased metabolic rate will kick longer duration lower intensity workouts in the teeth.

Was about to post the same thing. In addition, the body is repairing itself from the stress (damage) done to it during an intense workout.

As others have put it - CrossFit exercises do not make you stronger, faster, fitter. RECOVERING from CrossFit exercises make you stronger, faster and fitter.

The reason HIIT and crossfit style metcons and compound strength work burn so much calories is because of the after effects of that type of training. So if you get on the treadmill and run for an hour you'll burn x amount of calories. You get off and you're furnace will stop burning and return to resting within the next hour. When you do high intensity work it causes a huge spike in your metabolism that keeps burning for the next day to two days. So the net loss of calories during workout time isn't that much, but the compounded effect over a day or two of having an increased metabolic rate will kick longer duration lower intensity workouts in the teeth.

The effects of EPOC are pretty small compared to the calories burned during exercise. There is a reason marathon runners eat 6k calories a day to maintain weight, while Crossfitters do not.